We recently asked if you thought Foursquare or Gowalla would be the next big thing when it comes to social networking. The majority of you predicted Foursquare will come out on top while quite a few of you weren’t sure what these sites even were.

The Breakdown:

• Foursquare and Gowalla are two of the most popular geo-tagging sites that have sprung up in the last year. They each allow you to connect with your friends on Facebook and Twitter around town (via 3G or wifi). Simply “check in” to a location (thousands already exist) or create a new one to meet up with your friends or meet new people at the same location.

The Benefits:

• Local businesses are benefiting from increased traffic as more users are sharing their favorite café or art gallery with the world.
• It emphasizes important world causes. For example, the North Pole was recently created as a place to check in with Four Square. Two players are racing to be the first to win a special badge. However, their main reason for the journey is to raise awareness about the Arctic region’s environmental issues.
• Users earn points and badges for visiting places in addition to special prizes and coupons. For example, with Four Square you can actually become the “mayor” of a certain establishment like a restaurant and receive a free drink or food if you have visited  a certain number of times in conjunction with progressing to a designated level.
• It’s an easy way for travelers to find out where the locals go and even meet some new friends in the process as these programs are popular all over the world.

The Cons:

• Privacy is an issue. If you are sharing your location information with random people on Facebook or Twitter you could be inviting someone to burglar your house etc.
• It’s tedious! Most people are using both Foursquare and Gowalla to check into places while others are using one of the many other services like it. There isn’t once concise place (yet) to check in and the places vary depending upon which service you are using.

What’s Next?

• These programs are only the tip of the iceberg! Surely there will be one clear winner in this space as users aren’t going to constantly update several different profiles. There is talk that Facebook will be introducing it’s own platform to integrate data from both Foursquare and Gowalla while twitter already introduced a geo-tagging feature for its users months ago. As time goes by it will not only become more natural to connect with friends through these types of applications but to also have a real-time connection with businesses in this regard. Mobile retailing has already started to take shape and as businesses continue to delve into this new market you can expect to to see text messages from the stores you frequent once you’re in their vicinity which will include a tailored coupon for an item that they know you would like to buy from your purchasing history. It’s all very Minority Report, but it’s definitely the wave of the future!

What’s Your Take?

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